Actually I knew two out of the three ladies who used that handle. I was quite the boulevardier in my early incarnations, and made a point to circulate among the feistiest and most talked-about dancers of the day.

I have, literally checked every website that mentions "Boyd." There's a lot of missing history for her.

The Secretary of the Navy visited her in July, 1966. Photos of the period are undated and often with titles such as "Playing cards" and that doesn't tell me who or when.

I'm trying to help a sailor with an Agent Orange claim -- very, very difficult for "Blue Water Navy" as the government does not believe, contrary to scientific studies, that dioxins washed out the Yankee Station and were not removed by the ships' water-making apparatus. You have to show that they performed "Brown Water" duties or were docked with the likelihood that the crew went ashore.

So you ask the National Archives for copies of the Deck Logs. However, after 47 years memories dim and run together and what someone believes happened during a given time span didn't. As a result I try to use my "look it up" abilities to help.

True story: I helped a guy prove he suffered hearing loss while serving on "USS Saratoga" in the Med in 1962. The VA office in Boise said, "No way!" Mind you, he was serving as a catapult operator behind the blast shield directly behind the jet's exhaust...and the Navy admits today that even with "modern" hearing protection these people usually suffer hearing loss.

I hope I can help the guy from "Boyd." Contacting the CPT, even if he is still alive, is usually of little help as it's very, very unlikely he'd remember a particular fire mission or where he took a ship during a particular time...and the VA usually says, "Ha! That's wrong!" to such evidence anyway.

I met a guy today who was with the Field Artillery (8" howitzers) in Germany. He asked for hearing aids because of hearing loss and was told "No! You can't prove it was due to military service, nyah, nyah, nyah!" So he appealed two years ago and hasn't heard anything since.

Thank you for helping him, Mike. None of this "thank you for your service" platitude, I'll spell it out - thank you for caring and making this effort and using your unique skills to make a real difference in a life.

I understood that - and it is a too-scarce service you can provide, having the know-how to search databases and finding aids and who knows what else to come up with the evidence these folks need. That's a great help.

It's a hot day today, MOM. I know the boys asked you to clean and detail their cars for them ("No one can do it as precisely as you do, MOM! Please?") but make them clear out the carport for you so you're not working out in the direct sun.

It's a sad state of affairs, I swan. How are we going to reach the Fabled Fifty of Kay with this kind of lackadaisical pettifoggery where we should be seeing brilliant, diamantine application in pursuit of Better BS? That's what I want to know!

You see, LH, the Earth is shaped like a ball. A bit of a misshapen ball, like one that's been played with by several generations of kids and then given to the dogs as a "fetch" toy, but a ball none the less. So if you mark any spot on that ball and draw a straight line on the surface away from it in any direction you'll end up back where you started! Isn't that cool? It's just one of the wonders of what I call a "sphere."

That is fascinating, Rap! So...if I got a big enough ball of string and tied it to a wooden stake driven in the ground...then started off in some direction, unwinding the string as I go...and kept on in a straight line...I would eventually reach the stake from the other side and have a string stretched around the entire world!!! Right?

I am still recovering from the news about Katlaughing. She's been a voice of the Mudcat since before I first came here. It was unexpected (to me). One of those shifts in the fabric that cannot be ignored.

I know, Amos. It feels significant to me in ways that I cannot know. I am just so sorry.

I don't put much stock in dream interpretation but last night I woke from a vivid dream of beauty.

Here is what I wrote about an hour ago when I first heard the news:

"Lily To see lilies in your dream symbolizes tranquility, spirituality, faith, peace, purity, joy and bliss. It is also connected (with) mourning."

Last night I saw a stand of tall, pale blue, ethereal, delicate lilies with weeds and grasses cut short all around it. They were beautiful beyond words. I feel that it is somehow connected to Katlaughing's death last night. July 22, 2013

I don't think of death as an extinction, I think of it as being akin to stepping through a small doorway and leaving a room one has been inside for a long time...and stepping into a much larger open space. What is there, I can't say, because I'm not there right now, but I have a feeling it's very good.

Mediocre??? Fine talk from you, Rap! Yer the kinda suicidal fool who woulda described Wild Bill Hickock or Machine Gun Kelly as "mediocre" to their face...a coupla seconds before they put a whole buncha new air holes in you with hot lead.

I been readin' "the Cascade". It's surprisin'ly good. I didn't think Amos had it in him to write somethin' this good, but I guess I was wrong. It's damn near as good as Raymond Chandler, and that ain't just whistlin' Dixie. Now, if there'd been a Chimp or two worked into the story...and a crocodile fight or two in the river...then it woulda been even better. Still, not shabby. I give it 8 outta 10 stars.

I didn't drop in yesterday, sorry MOM if you drooped near the bottom. I was pursuing a personal task and didn't check out Mudcat or facebook early, only to come up for air in the early afternoon and find that our dear Katlaughing had died. "Thunderstruck" pretty well defines the feeling - I was at work, trying not to bawl my head off, instead dabbing at tears the rest of the afternoon.

SRS... I sit alone at the keyboard so I wept openly. Odd about Mick's post. Having words at first? I did too. I tore her a new asshole over something that upset me greatly when I first read her posts.... then... wow... what a wonderful person! I came to respect her greatly. I still have a problem with believing... you know.

Cascade : haven't read a word for days. Got some shit on the go. Can't wait ta get back on it by Sunday. The downtime I have get's spent idlin away here or on FB or listening to hard core drivin tunes. Just tryin ta wind a little looser.